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entire satisfaction of the shipping community.
lt is admitted that most if not all of
these men are illiterates, but they have proved themselves cor- -petent and trustworthy and, though recommending legislation, the Committee had it in mind that the examination of this class of men, who could not possibly be expected to pass highly tech- -nical examinations, would be conducted with similar consider- -ation to that now shown in their examination to coxswains and engineers of local tugs and launches.
The Committee of the Chamber from the first expressly stated that they considered it advisable not to limit the number of piicts, and, in the belief that this would be the view taken by the Government, the Committee contented themselves with a statement to this effect in their letter addressed to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary dated klst. April, 1904. At the same time they also expressed the opinion that the fees for pilotage should not be increased.
) would beg to remind you that the views of
the Committee were very fully set cut in the correspondence which passed between the Chamber and the Government in 1902 and 1908; this has been published in the Chamber's Reports for those
years.
Quite the contrary, however, of what was desired has now come about as, acting under powers given him in the Ordinance, it has been decided by the Harbour Master to limit the number of licenses to 10, to cope with the work which 40 or 50 men were previously engaged in, and even supposing that all the ten men were available at the same time this number is in the opinion of the Committee inadequate to meet the requirements of the shipping.
As a matter of fact it would appear that there are only nine licensed pilots at the moment, viz: eight
Europeans
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